After all the accomplishments and records he’s has stored away in the “vault”, Roger Federer says he’s now playing on what he calls “bonus time”, and he’s loving it.

“And now you just have to prove yourself every single day and everything that comes is like a bonus,” Federer told CNN. “I’ve been on this bonus trip for a long, long time and playing this way has actually been much more enjoyable.”

But Federer remains wary of the expectations and the shock losses that rattle his fan base.

“The fun goes away sometimes because instead of it being a lifelong dream you’ve had to just enjoy yourself and play tennis like your heroes used to, now people sort of expect you to win,” Federer said.

“Like losing in the quarterfinals … now is (seen as) a disaster. It changes the mindset of you as a player and as a professional athlete and that’s where I always try to remember, ‘Well, as long as I enjoy what I’m doing, I train hard, I have no regrets.’

“All I can do is give my best and it’s going to be fine regardless of the outcome.”

Federer this week is in his home tournament of Basel where as the No. 3 seed Monday he’ll play Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.

Federer could face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals and top seed Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals. Tomas Berdych is the No. 2 seed.

The 32-year-old is fighting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Richard Gasquet and Stanislas Wawrinka for the final three spots in the London finals.

Good for you Roger…..play for fun for a change and enjoy yourself……after all shouldn’t there be more to life than always winning. You have achieved so much already……and like you said the rest is a bonus. Like the way he’s put his career into perspective. He loves playing and it is hard to give up something you love. The fans will have to chill out……He is in charge. Good luck, Rog and maybe we might see you and Rafa play each other again!! Those matches are why I watch tennis. Two greats!!

Your fans are definitely shaken up a bit but their faith and unconditional love for u is still intact as always….

ROGER, we don’t jus love us coz u have won 17 slams, hold so many records to your name and overall a great champion….we also love u for the amazing person u r and the grace u behold on & off the court….we also love u for ur simplicity as well as ur down-to-earth nature….ur genuine love for ur fans….we cud go on :)

So don’t worry abt the results….doesn’t matter if u don’t win a single title anymore….but plz-plz jus keep playing and bring smiles to billions & trillions across the world. We love u!!

Vamos Grigor! Props for winning his first title. Awesome variety from him and even ferru. Walked out after 3 games I. The 3rd and was nervous that Grigor may not see it out but see it out he did: a major moment for him!

Fed can do what he likes perfect fan. He doesnt need to prove anything to anyone.

Interesting that despite his horrible year, his recently departed coach still has great faith in Roger, as do his fans,

“Three weeks ago, we were in Dubai and it’s 125 degrees on the court, and I’m sweating through shirts standing there,” Annacone said. “And I’m watching this guy laughing and having fun, doing drills, doing his physical fitness, and I’m sitting there going, ‘Wow, how does this guy still love to do this this much?’

“So the challenge is to make sure that love translates to a process that is really, really pointed towards a focus and not just playing, and I think after he won Wimbledon last year, I think a lot of things happened in terms of refocusing himself.”

Annacone is convinced that, despite the odds and plenty of recent evidence, greatness is not.

If Roger plays well over the next 15 matches, he is in with a chance of qualifying at the WTF, but honestly? Having been there for the last 12 years, I am not that bothered. He can rest for the rest of hte year for all I care, and work on coming back stronger in 2014.

The fact that Federer still is ambitious, (and what for?) I think shows the greatness of the man:

“[Playing at the Rio Olympics] is something I’d like to achieve. That doesn’t mean I’m going to end my career there, or earlier or later. It’s just an idea,” he said.

He has done enough playing at the tournmanet for years, and won the title 6 times.

Rest will be his best medicine after Paris, I think, until 2014 and then I hope, he plays as many matches as he can, and really gets into the new season once more, without taking as much time off, but may be, for 2013, that was just necessary, in order to sustain his motivation, who knows?

Wow, so many sarcastic comments about Roger. Seriously, cup cake draw ? You really have no idea. Course would be different if his name were rafa, then of course, everything would be super random. I get prett tired of people saying these things.

Been sayin it since Fed broke Sampras record and then won FO, its all gravy baby, and he knows it. The most complete player Tennis has ever seen.
So what does he do @ 30? Win Wimbledon to hit 17. Hater posters try to make Fed more relevant when he is older or losing now…he’s only #7 in the world now…why so much attention?
….but the Maestro knows better. Let the chasers chase, he’s(Fed) playin for fun whilst others playing to get in his career stats. I have a phrase for those players….won’t happen.

@madmax,
Pay no attention to the rafanatic sock puppets, many names but the same poster or 2! Hold whaaa. Hawk whaa? Gliescher uh?
They resemble the Minions via “Dispictable Me”, but are all the one and same Minion , lol. Fanaticism at its worse with the bedroom poster girls.
Pathetic? Yep, and worse than that, the jealousy is so nailed.

@skeezer. Do what you do best, that is accusing posters of using multiple monikers. These are all different posters, for one they all have different writing styles. You of all people should know that by now Maybe you find some consolation in thinking there is just one poster instead of 4 different posters?
#21-10

An unreplaceable huge hole will be left when Fed is gone, and despite the hate talk, the truth will prevail on Feds all time records, greatness, and undeniable impact on the Game. Play on Fed and have fun, its all gravy baby!!

Not all Rafa fans are sarcastic toward Federer….. read my the first post on this thread. I am a little surprised that some of Feds fans want him to play regardless of the back issue…..If Rog had taken a few months off maybe his back would be healed for real. Roger is a great guy and an amazing athlete. I say play on Roger as long as you want and can!

In the meantime……VAMOS RAFA!! I want to see you and Roger play more matches.

Okiegal ditto you hit the nail on the head,personally i believe they all work hard for their success,i never have belittled Rogers achievements to make me feel better about Rafas,what would be the point anyway?it doesnt change anything,the only thing you end up doing is wasting nervous energy unesasrily.